2016 Annual Report

One of the highlights of 2016 has been working with groups in Georgia Lebanon and Thailand thinking of setting up a National Trust. INTO is the leading authority on the work and philosophy of National Trusts around the world and one of our founding objectives is to help establish Trusts in countries where they do not currently exist.

Each Trust is different and we are currently preparing a Handbook for launch at the 2017 ICNT, which will offer advice drawing on examples from across our network. One thing they do have in common is a desire and mandate to engage people in the preservation, protection and promotion of heritage for the benefit of future generations.

Our 2016 Membership survey showed that the most important factors influencing the decision to join INTO were: to exchange ideas and knowledge; to learn from other Trusts’ ways of working and to be part of the global family of National Trusts. It was good to hear that our Family, Growth and Voice strategies are hitting the mark.

100% said they would recommend INTO membership to another Trust or organisation not currently part of the network, which is a fantastic vote of confidence!  It was also interesting to learn that whilst membership generally met or exceeded expectations, there is still
more we can do.

New mentoring and exchange programmes in 2017 will help deliver on this desire for capacity building and we continue to develop new ways to encourage exchange and learning. Growing the INTO Secretariat was also a priority in 2016.

We all know that volunteers help our organisations connect with the communities they serve. The same is true of INTO, and we are particularly passionate about helping young people around the world engage with heritage.

There are benefits to everyone from this. They bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm to current projects, and in the years ahead they will be the ones looking after special places and passing them on to future generations. For the young people, volunteering brings opportunities to develop new skills, interests and aspirations, to connect with wider communities of interest – and to have fun!

This year, we were joined by Jorge Vicente Diaz from Tesouros de Galicia, Putri Sasongko from BPPI and Noémie Caillat from REMPART. We also extended our network of advisers through the Diplomatic Service Families Association.